The present invention concerns apparatus for cutting photographic paper.
What are called "package prints" are often produced, in particular, in the field of portrait photography. A number of prints of different size are produced in a single exposure from a single negative on a single strip of paper 10 to 12" wide with several lenses. The different prints are distributed along and across the strip in accordance with size. Once the strip has been developed, the prints must be cut out separately.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,824 discloses cutting apparatus for this purpose. The cuts are made with guillotines that enter a matrix of gaps in the surface supporting the strip. Since the knives that cut parallel with the edges of the strip must not be any longer than the strip edge parallel edges of the smallest print in the package, the strip edge parallel edges of each larger print must be cut in more than one step and will accordingly never be perfectly smooth and straight. However, since a portrait photographer's customers in particular demand high quality results, zigzag edges are not acceptable.